


To Granian, and Away!

by Aneiria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dating, Established Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Granians, Magical Horses, Malfoy Manor, Special Date, horse riding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27470992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aneiria/pseuds/Aneiria
Summary: An unexpected date at Malfoy Manor leads Draco to a startling realisation...
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 6
Kudos: 109





	To Granian, and Away!

**Author's Note:**

> This was first published [on Tumblr](https://aneiria-writes.tumblr.com/post/627736543327584256/ive-recently-started-sketching-again-heres), but I decided it was time to give it a home on AO3!

It had been a month since Hermione’s first visit to Malfoy Manor, a month since she’d sat awkwardly in the summer parlour with Draco and his mother, drinking tea and enduring stilted small talk.

Hermione did it entirely for him, Draco knew, recognising how important his mother was to him even if she struggled to give up her own prejudices.

Familial duty done, the second visit to Malfoy Manor saw Draco lead Hermione out towards the stables and paddocks, where a number of enormous winged horses in different shades of grey grazed happily.

‘I had no idea you had horses,’ Hermione said as she and Draco leaned against the fence, watching a touching vignette of a mare and her tiny, spindly-legged and thinly-winged foal totter along beside her.

‘Breeding Granians was one of my father’s pastimes,’ Draco explained with a softness to his voice.

Hermione reached out to take his hand.

Draco’s father had suffered the Dementor’s Kiss following the war, and despite believing the man deserved it, Hermione respected the pain and conflict in Draco’s mind when it came to the memory of Lucius Malfoy.

‘Mother and I couldn’t bring ourselves to sell them on after… well. You know,’ he added as she squeezed his hand in comfort.

‘And can you ride?’ She asked with interest, looking towards the stables. There were another two Granians there, one the colour of shadows and the other the pale, translucent grey of a raincloud. Draco caught her gaze and led her over to them, hand in hand.

‘Of course, Granger,’ he said with a smile as they stopped in front of the two horses. ‘Since I was a child.’

He nodded now towards the two horses watching them eagerly from their stalls.

‘This is Noctus and Nimbus,’ Draco said fondly, reaching a hand out to stroke the neck of the lighter one. ‘They’re brothers. Did you know Granians are the fastest winged horses known to wizardkind?’

Hermione reached up to stroke the darker one. The horse huffed at her and rubbed his velvety lips against her hand, as if searching for a treat.

‘I don’t know much about magical horses, actually,’ Hermione admitted. ‘Could we go for a ride?’ She asked, her voice bright and hopeful. Draco hesitated a moment, and Hermione fixed him with those beautiful brown eyes of hers. ‘Please?’ She added, and Draco melted inside.

They’d been dating only two months, but already Draco knew he’d do anything to make Hermione happy. Besides, Noctus and Nimbus, despite being powerful, were also both highly trained horses. They could go on a quiet hack through the country lanes around the Manor and be back in half an hour none the worse for wear.

Draco turned towards the inside of the stable block. ‘Lizzie?’ He called out, and a moment later a black-haired stable hand appeared from the gloom, her hair thrown back in a messy braid and a streak of dirt across her cheek.

‘Yes, Mister Malfoy?’ She asked, and Draco groaned inwardly.

‘Lizzie, please, call me Draco,’ he tried for the hundredth time, and she gave him an indulgent smile which he knew meant nothing would change. Instead he nodded to the Granians. ‘Please could you saddle up Noctus and Nimbus? We’re going to take them out for a ride.’

Lizzie nodded and turned towards the tack room, and Draco turned back to Hermione.

‘We can just Transfigure ourselves riding clothes for now,’ he said. ‘Probably won’t be as comfortable as the real thing, but they’ll do for one hack.’

‘Speak for yourself, Malfoy,’ Hermione said with a grin. ‘I think you’ll find my Transfiguration skills more than adequate.’

With that she drew her wand and pointed it at Draco, swishing it in a complicated pattern. He felt his clothes remodel themselves against his skin, and looked down at himself. She’d given him shiny riding boots, pristine white breeches, and a fitted hunting jacket and riding cloak in Slytherin green: all as elegantly cut and comfortable as his actual riding clothes, neatly pressed and hanging up in the wardrobe in his room.

When he looked up he saw Hermione had Transfigured her own clothes, wearing similar boots and breeches but with a red riding habit that reminded Draco of the pictures he’d seen of Victorian witches on their own winged horses.

From the stalls behind them, there was a creak and a clatter as Lizzie led the two Granians out, tacked up and eyes bright.

Draco and Hermione each cast a _Molliare_ over themselves - just in case - and Draco waved towards the two waiting horses.

‘Which one would you like to ride?’

Hermione regarded them carefully, the handsome brothers, and nodded towards the darker of the pair.

‘Noctus it is,’ Draco said easily, nodding towards Lizzie who handed Nimbus’s reins to Draco and lead Noctus and Hermione to the mounting block.

As Lizzie helped Hermione mount Noctus and tighten the girth and adjust the stirrups, Draco turned to Nimbus. Gathering the reins in one hand and anchoring his left foot in the stirrup, he pulled himself up and over, settling into the saddle and summoning his tooled leather crop from the tack room.

Draco gave Nimbus an affectionate pat on the neck, happy to be in the saddle again. He breathed deeply, relishing the sweet, warm scent of hay and the rich smell of leather and saddle soap before nudging Nimbus on and walking up to Hermione. She looked tiny perched on top of Noctus, and he gave her a reassuring smile.

‘Comfortable?’ He asked, and Hermione gathered up the reins and nodded. ‘Good. We’ll just go for a quick hack around the lanes,’ he added. ‘See how you get on.’

With that Draco turned Nimbus towards the back of the Manor grounds and set off at a slow amble.

‘Later, Lizzie!’ Draco called over his shoulder.

‘Have a nice ride, Mister Malfoy!’ Lizzie called back cheerfully to him, and he shook his head in despair.

The afternoon was pleasant, warm and quiet, and they rode in silence over the Manor grounds.

Draco looked over to Hermione, wanting to make sure she was comfortable, and took in her posture. She sat easily in the saddle, her thighs relaxed, her heels down. Her hands were nice and soft on the reins. Beneath her, Noctus whinnied happily and walked with a spring in his step. For once he didn’t seem to be plotting ways to throw off his rider.

‘Granger,’ Draco said, realisation dawning as they turned into a dirt track and towards the back gate of the Malfoy property. ‘You already know how to ride, don’t you?’

Hermione gave him a look that was part guilt and part smugness.

‘I’ve ridden horses since I was a little girl,’ she admitted, leaning forward to scratch Noctus between the ears. ‘I used to have my own pony, actually.’

Draco hid a grin. ‘Full of surprises, aren’t you, Granger,’ he drawled, and with a wave of his hand the back gates to the Manor grounds magically swung open. They walked through with a clatter of hooves into a great green swathe of a field. ‘What do you think, Granger,’ Draco said, letting his smirk through. ‘Think you can stay on?’

Nimbus gave an excited shake of his head, grabbing at the bit, and Noctus whinnied in response and pawed the ground, impatient to be off. Hermione flashed Draco a look that could only be described as purely _Gryffindor_ , eyes sparkling at the concept of adrenaline and thrill-seeking.

‘Think you can keep up?’ She retorted, and with a cluck of her tongue and a kick of her heel, she and Noctus were off, a streak of dark grey across the green. With a shout of laughter, Draco spurred Nimbus on, giving the Granian his head, and they galloped after them.

* * *

Hermione had forgotten what this felt like, the pure freedom and exhilaration of being on the back of a galloping horse faced with an open field.

Noctus had a beautiful gait, smooth and thunderous at the same time, and he was certainly the fastest horse she’d ever ridden. She wrapped her fingers into his streaming grey mane, anchoring herself, and pushed her heels further down in the stirrups. Her curls had long since come free of any attempt to restrain them, and now flew madly behind her like a streaming pennant. Feeling secure in the saddle as Noctus galloped on, she chanced a look over to Draco.

He sat as elegant and graceful as a dancer on top of Nimbus, his long legs working with the horse as they raced along, his blond hair whipped back and his silver eyes flashing with excitement. She felt her heart skip a beat at the flex of his thighs against Nimbus’s side. He caught her watching him, and threw her a wicked grin.

‘Keep up with this, Granger,’ he shouted over the whipping wind and thundering hooves, mud and grass churning up with every gallop. He stood a little higher in the stirrups and leaned low over Nimbus’s neck like a jump jockey, loosening the reins and giving the horse his head completely.

With a tiny buck of excitement that failed to unseat Draco even a tiny bit, Nimbus took the freedom and galloped away even faster, wings streaming behind him, pulling away from Hermione and Noctus. She felt her own eyes narrow at the competition and mirrored Draco’s actions, leaning so far forward her wrists were almost up to the horse’s ears.

‘Come on, boy,’ she encouraged Noctus. ‘We’re not losing this.’

Noctus’s ears pricked up as if listening to her words, and he stretched his own neck and wings out and increased his stride, tears whipping from Hermione’s eyes at the sting of the wind. They started to close the gap between them and Draco.

* * *

It was the moment Hermione and Noctus galloped straight past Draco and Nimbus, when Hermione gave a whoop of excitement and threw Draco a triumphant look over her shoulder as the dust and mud from Noctus’ hooves flung up to spatter over him and Nimbus, that Draco Malfoy knew he had fallen hopelessly and irrevocably in love with Hermione Granger.


End file.
